hus understand that
the present "Life of Keats" is, in planning, structure, execution, and
estimate, entirely independent of Mr. Colvin's; but that I have
ultimately had the advantage of consulting Mr. Colvin's book as one of
my various sources of information--the latest and within its own lines
the completest of all.

LIFE OF KEATS.

CHAPTER I.

A truism must do duty as my first sentence. There are long lives, and
there are eventful lives: there are also short lives, and uneventful
ones. Keats's life was both short and uneventful. To the differing
classes of lives different modes of treatment may properly be applied by
the biographer. In the case of a writer whose life was both long and
eventful, I might feel disposed to carry the whole narrative forward
_pari passu_, and to exhibit in one panorama the outward and the inward
career, the incidents and the product, the doings and environment, and
the writings, acting and re-acting upon one another. In the instance of
Keats this does not appear to me to be the most fitting method. It may
be more appropriate to apportion his Life into two sections: and to
treat firstly of his general course from the cradle to the grave, and
secondly of his performances in literature. The two things will
necessarily overlap to some extent, but I shall keep them apart so far
as may be convenient. When we have seen what he did and what he wrote,
we shall be prepared to enter upon some analysis of his character and
personality. This will form my third section; and in a fourth I shall
endeavour to estimate the quality and value of his writings, in
particular and in general. Thus I address myself in the first instance
to a narrative of the outer facts of his life.

* * * * *

John Keats came of undistinguished parentage. No biographer carries his
pedigree further than his maternal grandfather, or alleges that there
was any trace, however faint or remote, of ancestral eminence. The
maternal grandfather was a Mr. Jennings, who kept a large livery-stable,
called the Swan and Hoop, in the Pavement, Moorfields, London, opposite
the entrance to Finsbury Circus. The principal stableman or assistant in
the business was named Thomas Keats, of Devonshire or Cornish parentage.
He was a well-conducted, sensible, good-looking little man, and won the
favour of Jennings's daughter, named Frances or Fanny: they married, and
this rather considerable rise in his